10 Hollywood Films Banned Around the World

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We have often heard about films being banned by the government. Not all films make it to the good graces of the public and end up facing opposition and in worst case scenario, a straight up ban. When we particularly talk about Hollywood films, we know of so many films that were banned, not only in the respective countries but in other parts of the world as well. There can be a number of reasons for banning a film. An offensive plot, excessive vulgar scenes, abusive language – the list goes on.

There are many banned films throughout the world that people might not even be aware of. While we intend on scratching the surface, there are many popular films that have faced a ban which might not be there in the list below as we have summed up banned films in the last 10 years.

The Interview (2014)

One of the most controversial films, The Interview which starred Seth Rogan and James Franco got into the bad books of North Korea as soon as the film was completed. North Korea felt that this film was promoting violence against their country, hence the film was banned from screening. This film later was not just banned in North Korea but a few other Asian countries as well.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2014)

Leonardo Dicaprio, who is one of the best actors in the world, was seen playing the lead role in this film. This film was banned from releasing in Malaysia, Cambodia and a few other countries due to its strong sexual content, drug abuse, and offensive language. Read the review here.

Wonder Woman (2017)

This was one of the many films which were boycotted by the Arab league, in particular, Lebanon, Qatar and Tunisia, after getting to know that the film's lead star, Gal Gatod had served in the Israeli army.

The Human Centipede 2 (2011)

This film was banned in Australia and New Zealand for its cruel, disturbing and sexually explicit content. A censored DVD version was later released in February 2012

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

One of the most highly controversial films in the recent past, Fifty Shades of Grey faced a ban in Indonesia, UAE, Malaysia, Kenya, Cambodia and Zimbabwe. The film was banned mainly because of its insane romance, numerous sex sequence and the use of violence during sex.

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

It was very surprising to know that Beauty and the Beast was banned in Kuwait and Malaysia due to homosexual references that were offensive. Disney had rejected the film censorship board's cuts. Later, the film was released without any cuts.

Noah (2014)

The film starring Emma Watson and Russell Crowe was banned in countries like Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE for depicting the prophets. It was also said that the story line was inaccurate and some of the facts shown in the movie were wrong.

A Serbian Film (2011)

This film's trailer was so disturbing that it raised the question of whether or not it should be released worldwide. The film was banned by the governments of New Zealand, Norway, Spain and Brazil due to the violation of criminal law, which deals with sexual representation and extreme violence.

The Hunger Games (2012)

This Jennifer Lawrence starrer film had to face a ban in Vietnam because of extreme violence and killings shown in the film. A few other Asian countries had kept the film's release on hold but later allowed its screening.The Kingdom (2007)

The Kingdom which starred Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner was surprisingly rejected from being screened in Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The ban was mainly because these countries said that there was a false depiction of the 1996 bombing in Saudi Arabia.

There are only a few films that make their way through without any problems or controversies. The rest, at some point in time, get pulled up and either face a ban or undergo a heavy censoring. If you know of more films which were banned, do let us know in your comments below.